


A trip to the zoo

by liionne



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-01
Updated: 2013-08-01
Packaged: 2017-12-22 03:00:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/908109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liionne/pseuds/liionne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim takes David to see the lions, and they both makes a few new friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A trip to the zoo

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this post right here: http://shrink-wrap.tumblr.com/post/57016440695/jim-taking-david-to-the-zoo-to-see-the-lions because apparently I'm too lazy to think of ideas anymore?

David was a handful. Carol’s opinion of his apparent ADHD fluctuated: it would be cute, and then it would be annoying, and then it would be exhausting, and then it would be funny, and then it would be cute, and this vicious cycle would continue. She knew exactly why he was a handful, too; he’d gotten more of Jim’s genes than she’d hoped for, and it had made him a little ball of blue-eyed energy.

She was stuck in the “exhausted” part of her daily cycle when she handed the boy over to Jim. “Please, for the love of God, don’t give him any sugar before he’s due to come home. I need sleep tonight, Jim.” She gave him a withering look as he pulled the boy into a hug.

“How long before we’re due to come home?” Jim asked, his hand on David’s shoulder.

“Half an hour.” She said, almost immediately. She knew how long it took David to work off the sugar in his system.

“Half an hour, you got it.” Jim nodded. He’d forget that in two minutes, and Carol knew it, but she hoped, in vain, that he’d remember just this one thing. “You got your camera, kiddo?” Jim asked, looking down at the little boy.

“Yeah!” He sang, pulling it out of his pocket and showing it off.

“You’ll have to take lots of pictures to show your mom when you get back.” Jim grinned.

“I’ll take a picture of every single animal, mom, I promise!” David smiled, showing off the tooth he’d lost a few days before. He looked so much like Jim when he smiled.

Carol forced a smile. “That’s great, sweetheart.” She nodded. “Thank you. Have a good time with your father.” She kissed his forehead, before standing straight to look sternly at Jim. “Behave.” She told him, raising her eyebrows.

“Me or him?” Jim asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You.” She told him. “I’ll see you both at four.” She waved her hand, and walked down the sidewalk outside of Jim’s apartment to her car.

When she had drove off, and neither adult nor child could see her anymore, they looked at each other. Jim patted his shoulder. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

~~~~~

“Dad, I wanna see the lions!” David whined, a tub of popcorn in hand and his camera hanging around his neck.

“I know, kiddo, but there’s still things to see on the way.” Jim pointed to one of the enclosures as they passed. “See? Hippos. That one must be tired, it’s yawning.”

“ _Woah_ ,” David’s eyes widened. “Look at it’s teeth!”

“Uh-huh,” Jim smirked, as they continued passed the pool of three or four hippos. “Pretty cool.”

“Not as cool as the lions.” David said pointedly.

Jim sighed. “Alright, alright, c’mon.” He jerked his head in the direction of the Big Cat section of the zoo, leading David towards it.

They made a beeline for the lions, and when David caught sight of the male, with a large, deep brown mane and paws the size of his head, he raced forward, pushing through hoards of people to lean against the glass.

“Woah!” He yelled, his jaw hanging open as he took in the animals, lazing around the enclosure. “Dad, dad, come look!”

The only other people at the exhibit was a man and a little girl, his hand resting lazily on his shoulder as they watched the lions quietly. David had been so loud, and so noisy, that Jim was almost a little embarrassed. He gave a sheepish smile as he stood behind David, shooting a “Sorry,” At the other father. “He’s a big fan of the lions.”

His little girl turned to shoot them a bright grin. “Me too!”

Her dad gave Jim a weary smile. “We come every Saturday.” He explained.

Jim nodded. He wished he had that luxury. David sat himself cross legged on the floor, and the little girl ambled over to him, sitting down beside him. “I’m Joanna.” She smiled. She held out her hand to him, which elicited a smile from both fathers.

“I’m David.” The boy nodded, shaking her hand with exaggerated movement.

Jim took a few steps back, standing in line with the other man. “Jim.” He nodded to him.

“Leonard.” He replied. They gave each other a brief smile.

The children sat there for ages, Joanna helping David to take photos at opportune moments, posing for him every so often. She explained which lion was which to him, because she knew them “as if they were my pets”, and had spoken to their handler more times than David had talked to his father. They could have sat there all day, Jim was sure, but he had a schedule to stick to.

“If we’re gonna get round the rest of the zoo before we have to get you home we better go now, kiddo.” Jim said, his hands in his pockets.

“Aw, but dad-” David began to whine, but Jim cut him off.

“Your mom’s the boss, not me. C’mon.” Jim felt bad about it, but he was pretty excited about seeing the rest of the zoo himself.

“Yeah, Jo, we better be going too.” Leonard called of her.

She was more willing to go, but she did grimace. “Okay.”

They both stood, and made their way to their respective parent. “You should come round with us!” David beamed at her.

“Can we, daddy?” Jo looked up at her father, who looked to Jim.

“If we’re invited.” He answered.

“It’s an open invitation.” Jim returned.

Joanna looked confused; David leaned towards her. “That means yes.” He whispered.

Joanna beamed, both of them gave a cry of happiness, and ran away to see the tigers before either parent could argue.

The children walked a few feet in front, taking photos and chattering, whilst Jim and Leonard hung back.

“Single dad?” Jim asked, as they left the Big Cat exhibit in search of the Reptiles.

“Yeah,” Leonard grimaced. “Wife left me a year or so ago. Took about everything I had. You?”

“Bit of an accident.” He winced at the word. David might have been an accident, but he was pretty sure the kid was the best thing he’d ever had.

Leonard gave a nod. “A happy accident?” He guessed.

“A happy accident.” Jim agreed. He was glad he understood.

“How often do you get to see him?” Leonard asked, half way round their tour of the Reptiles exhibit. They weren’t really making active conversation, although every so often one would ask a question that would result in a small chat.

“Every other weekend.” Jim answered. “It’s pretty hard to nail down. She’s pretty busy and I’m pretty busy-” He shrugged. “You?”

“Supposed to be every weekend, but it’s pretty much whenever she sees fit.” Leonard sighed. “I try to bring her down here every Saturday, even if she can stay the whole weekend.”

Jim nodded. At least Carol was willing to hand David over for the day, or for a few days. He couldn’t imagine being actively kept from his son.

“Maybe you’re better off without her.” Jim said. The filter between his brain and his mouth was malfunctioning again. “She sounds like a bit of a bitch.”

He realised, once he’d said the words and by Leonard’s stunned expression, that maybe he’d overstepped a mark. But Leonard smirked. “She is a bit of bitch. Or at least, she is now.”

The kids were too far away to hear, thankfully.

“What about his mom?” Leonard asked.

Jim gave a soft smile. “She’s great.”

Leonard nodded. He wondered what it was like to have your child’s mother not actively despise you.

“She’s just not right for me.” Jim added, and again Leonard nodded. What he should have said was _‘I’m not right for her.’_ but he left it out.

It took them a few hours to get around the rest of the zoo, with David taking pictures of everything and anything, from nearly every individual ant in the Red Ants tank (which made Joanna feel crawly) to the back wall of the seal enclosure (“It’s painted like the sea, dad!”). Jim didn’t realise it was 3.45 until they were too far away from the zoo gates to make it to the car and to Carol’s before 4. He grimaced.

“Dad, I want to go back to the lions!” David announced.

“Me too!” Joanna agreed, looking to her father.

“Sorry, kid, we gotta go. You’ve got to be home in fifteen minutes. Which is an impossibility.” Jim gave him an apologetic look, as David’s face fell.

“Alright.” he sighed. He knew not to argue when it came to home time.

“Can we go back to the lions, daddy” Joanna asked.

“Maybe.” Leonard offered, not wanting to say yes for fear of upsetting the boy.

Jim didn’t want to leave almost as much as David. He liked Leonard, and not just because he was totally hot. He understood him.

“Maybe, uh,” Leonard frowned a little, looking to Jim. “Maybe we can meet up again next Saturday?”

David grinned, looking up at Jim, clutching at his hand, blinking big blue eyes at him. That kid knew exactly how to work him. “Can we, dad?”

Jim looked down at his round blue yes, most definitely Carol’s, and then over to Leonard’s almond hazel ones. He looked back to David, and smiled, “I don’t see why not.”


End file.
